This blog is focused on topics relating to the death of Kurt Cobain. Consistent with the opinion of the former Chief of the Seattle Police Department at the time of his passing, I believe the evidence indicates that a re-investigation into the circumstances of Cobain's death is necessary.

Monday, May 2, 2016

A Peek Into Courtney Love’s 1995 Lawsuit Against the Washington State Patrol and a False Assertion to the Court

Following Kurt Cobain’s death in April of 1994 the
Seattle Police Department turned over to the Washington State Patrol (WSP) the
greenhouse “suicide” note and an additional comparison letter purported to have
been written by Kurt Cobain months before his death.These documents were turned over to the
Patrol for purposes of conducting handwriting comparison analysis so to
establish that the “suicide” note was in fact authored by the deceased.Upon conclusion of this analysis the WSP
returned the original documents to the SPD but retained in its possession
copies of the two letters.

Thereafter, in September of 1995, a public
disclosure request seeking the “suicide” note and the comparison letter was
submitted to the WSP, which, if granted by the WSP, would result in the public
having access to these documents for review and inspection.The WSP took the position that the letters
were not exempt from disclosure and that, accordingly, the WSP would publicly
release them pursuant to the disclosure request.

In October of 1995, in response to the WSP’s stated
intention to release the documents, Courtney Love sued the WSP to prevent
disclosure.The Washington law firm
representing Ms. Love contended that disclosure would violate her privacy
rights and cause her irreparable harm.

At the time of the lawsuit’s filing, public
accusations claiming Ms. Love was involved in Mr. Cobain’s death had already
been leveled.

In support of the firm’s contentions, it submitted
multiple “declarations” to the Court by individuals with knowledge of the
contents of the “suicide” note.Declarations are written statements, signed under risk of penalty of
perjury, by individuals claiming to have personal knowledge about a given legal
issue.They are an extremely important
part of the judicial process in helping to ensure judges are fully and
accurately informed about the vital issues they must decide upon.

One of the declarations submitted to the Court was
that of Seth Lichtenstein’s, an attorney to Courtney Love at the time of the
lawsuit’s filing, who unequivocally asserted in his declaration that the
greenhouse note “is a personal letter
written to Courtney and Frances by Kurt…” (Emphasis added.)This declaration was obtained publically
through the King County Superior Court and, unlike the copy contained in the
SPD’s publically available online file, is in un-redacted form.

Mr. Lichtenstein’s assertion bolsters the lawsuit’s
claim that release of the “suicide” note by the WSP would violate Ms. Love’s
privacy rights.The assertion also
happens to be entirely inconsistent with the contents of the note.

For as is commonly known among those who have taken
an interest in the circumstances of Mr. Cobain’s death, the “suicide” note is
directed, in large letters at the outset, “To Boddah,” Mr. Cobain’s imaginary
childhood friend, and the body of the letter predominantly articulates Mr.
Cobain’s feelings about his career in music.In addition, a signature is provided after the letter’s body which
includes both a first and last name (“Kurt Cobain”), which is inconsistent with
a personal letter directed to a family member.Only in a brief end-note, following the signature, in what appears to be
an entirely different style of handwriting, are there intimate words directed
to Ms. Love and Mr. Cobain’s daughter.

Notably, Mr. Lichtenstein was at the time of his
declaration a partner in Rosemary Carroll’s southern California law firm – Codikow & Carroll.This fact is particularly concerning with
regard to Mr. Lichtenstein’s declaration to the Court, for as we know, Rosemary
Carroll, Ms. Love’s and Mr. Cobain’s attorney at the time of Mr. Cobain’s
death, appears to have been highly suspicious of Ms. Love’s role in Mr.
Cobain’s passing and stated that she was of the opinion that the “suicide” note
was not written by Mr. Cobain, but rather that it may have been forged, and
that Mr. Cobain’s death was not the result of suicide.

These assertions by Ms. Carroll were captured by
clandestine audio recording shortly after Mr. Cobain’s death but well prior to
the lawsuit against the WSP, and the assertions are relevant with regard to
whether Ms. Carroll, who as an attorney was and is bound by attorney-client
obligations, had informed Mr. Lichtenstein, prior to his declaration, of her
doubts about the “suicide” note and the cause of her client’s death.

It should be noted, however, that only select
portions of the recordings, obtained without consent by then-private
investigator Tom Grant, have been made public and because Ms. Carroll appears
to have remained publicly silent on the matter a complete understanding of her
beliefs is still unknown, including knowledge of the potential pressures Ms.
Carroll has faced that may have, understandably, altered her behavior.

In the end, the Court in matter against the
Washington State Patrol (WSP), despite having viewed the greenhouse note, would
rule in favor of Courtney Love, barring the WSP from releasing the “suicide”
note and comparison letter.

...

As an addendum, at about the same time the suit
against the WSP was filed, in late October 1995, Bryan Collucio, Ms. Love’s
attorney in the WSP matter, reached out to the Seattle Police Department in an
attempt to have the SPD eliminate all Cobain case records and copies thereof in
its possession. Mr. Collucio claimed elimination of the records was necessary
on privacy grounds.Such an act,
however, would be unlawful, and Norm Stamper, the chief of the Department at
the time, would wisely deny the request.

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About Me

I'm interested in various social issues touching on law, media and power, such as how the interplay of these elements often results in the unequal and improper application of our laws. I'm licensed to practice law in California. I'm also the author of cobainevidence.com.